Method and apparatus for collecting lint and fly



May 16, 1961 A. J. LOEPSINGER Filed March 10, 1960 FIG.4

INVENTOR. ALBERT J. LOEPS I NGER biz/2 ATTORNEY Patented May 16, 1961METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COLLECTING LINT AND FLY Albert J. Loepsinger,Barrington, R.I., assignor to Grinnell Corporation, Providence, R.I., acorporation of Delaware Filed Mar. -10, 1960, Ser. No. 14,022

7 Claims. (Cl. 139-1) This invention relates to looms and moreparticularly to a method and apparatus for collecting and removing lintand fly given off from certain areas of the loom during the weavingoperations, the apparatus being fastened to the loom.

In the weaving of cloth, the accumulation of lint and fly on the loommaking such cloth is a very serious problem because such an accumulationis very likely to result in defects in the cloth or interfere with theloom operation. The yarn which is used in weaving cotton and woolencloth is formed from substantially parallel oriented fibers which aretwisted together. Occasionally, some of these fibers will have only oneend anchored in the yarn and the other end free. During the weavingoperation each strand of yarn is drawn oif a warp roll on the loom andpassed through an opening in a drop wire which is supported by thestrand so as to fall down and actuate the stop motion of the loom tostop the loom if the strand breaks. The drawing of the yarn through thisdrop wire opening causes some of the fibers and some sizing, usuallystarch, to pull away or break off as lint and fly. A large portion ofthis lint falls down below the drop wires Where it was formed, but,being very light, it may before reaching the floor be carried by aircurrents back to the yarn or to the cloth being woven or to surfaces ofthe machinery. If it falls on the yarn or cloth, it is normally toosmall to create a defect, but if it accumulates on the exposed surfacesof the machinery and later falls in a bunch onto the yarn or cloth, adefect will be produced thereby lowering the quality of the cloth. It isthe prevention of such an accumulation to which my invention isdirected.

A number of ways have been proposed to handle this problem, includingperiodically passing a blower over the machinery to blow the lint andfly off the machinery surfaces. These prior proposals have beensuccessful in varying degrees, but, although most parts of the machineare blown clean to a great extent the lint and fly is still within theconfines of the room and eventually falls to the floor where it maypossibly be lifted again by a blast of air from the overhead blower andwhere it requires frequent periodic manual sweeping to be removed. Toautomatically remove the lint and fly from the weave room variousapparatuses have been developed. For example, in one mill a systemhaving a trough placed in the floor beneath each loom with a largevacuum device connected thereto was installed to continuously draw inthe lint and fly as it is formed and transfer this matter to a centralcollection point. This system has been succesful to a large extent, butthe cost of such success is extremely high because of the extensiveducting required and the power required to provide adequate suction. Inaddition, such a system must be installed while the mill is being builtso that the connecting ducts between the troughs and the vacuum devicecan be made an integral part of the mill structure. Such a system wouldbe even more costly if it were designed for existing mills having loomsalready installed and operating.

It has also been recently proposed to utilize an overhead travelingsuction device with a nozzle which hangs therefrom down to the floor andwhich sucks up the lint and fly from the floor as the device passes overit. The success of this device has not been determined at this time dueto the difficulty in overcoming the problem of bringing the nozzle intothe region where the lint and fly generally lies, e.g., under themachines rather than in the aisles and the further problem of adequatelycollecting this matter from the cleaner which is constantly movingaround the room.

The objects of my invention are that each loom have its own collectionsystem, that this system be located on the loom at the place where agreat deal of the lint and fly is formed and that the system operatecontinuously to collect said lint and fly before it has an opportunityto come to rest on the machinery surfaces.

A preferred form of my invention is a collection system mounted directlyon the loom under the stop motion mechanism, since a large portion ofthe total lint and fly is produced at this position due in large part tothe friction occuring between the yarn and the drop wires and betweenthe adjacent moving strands of yarn which make up the warp and which rubtogether during the weave operation. Of course, lint and fly accumulatesat points on the loom other than the drop wires, but, the quantity issuch that the use of a traveling blower has been acceptable for keepinglint and fly off the machinery surfaces at these other points withoutthe requirement that it be removed immediately.

My system primarily utilizes the property of a properly directed highvelocity stream of air to cause a low pressure area in its surroundingenvironment which draws the lint and fly to it and then to transmit thelint and fly to a desired collection point with this stream. The use ofsuch an airstream with its eductive properties is much more eflicientthan the use of a vacuum and thus enables applicant to collect largeportions of the lint and fly produced without the use of large, powerful.and expensive equipment.

Consideration of the specification and the drawing attached thereto willprovide a better understanding of my invention.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the stop motion portion of a loom witha preferred embodiment of my invention attached thereunder;

Figure 2 is a clearer showing of the open channel collector taken byitself;

Figure 3 is a transverse section of the collector taken along line 33 ofFigure 2; and

Figure 4 is a longitudinal section of the device taken along line 44 ofFig. 2 and showing the path of the airstream in the channel.

Figure 1 shows the stop motion mechanism 10 of a loom 12. Moreparticularly drop wires 14 are carried on warp strands 16 passing abovereciprocating notched bars 13. Mounted on loom frame 20 across the widthof the loom and beneath the stop motion mechanism is an open channel 22with its open side uppermost and covered by stepped overlapping plates23. At one end of this channel is an opening 24 through which air isdelivered via a baflle 25 from blower 21. Along the channel are spacedopenings 26, 28, 30 and 32 between the plates 23. Because the baflleproperly distributes the air flow, air delivered by blower 21 will passnot only through openings 28, 30 and 32 but also through opening 26 (seeFigure 4). At the end of the channel opposite to that of blower 21 isanother small blower 34 with its suction end connected through aremovable collection baflle box 35 to an opening 36 in the channel.

Both blowers operate constantly while the loom is operating, and,depending on the cloth to be woven, the blower and sucking device mayeach be adjusted to give optimum performance in accordance with the sizeand quantity of the lint and fly produced. Air blown from blower 21through opening 26 will tend to flow parallel to the covers '23 and thebottom of the pan toward opening 28. As it moves toward opening 28friction and defusion will tend to cause the air stream to slow down andto leave the vicinity of channel 22. However, when the air streamreaches the vicinity of the opening 28 a new blast of air leaving thisopening also parallel to the covers 23 of the channel will cause a lowerpressure to .exist at this point than the pressure at a pointimmediately above and behind the opening. As a result the streamemanating from 26 will tend to be sucked down toward opening 28 and willbecome part of the stream issuing from opening 28 as it travels towardopening 30. As it continues along, defusion and friction will againcause the stream to tend to slow down and move away from channel 22.However, a new blast of air coming out of opening 30 will again suck theair stream down and along, parallel to the covers 23 of the channel.This process will continue and be repeated at opening 32. After leavingopening 32 and before the air stream has an opportunity to leave thevicinity of the channel bottom, the influence of suction device 34 willwork upon the air stream causing it to be sucked into the collection box35. Thus, unlike prior art devices, the lint and fly which is beingdropped from the area of the loom stop motion is urged toward anappropriate suction device and collected thereby before it can leave theconfines of the loom structure. With some looms, space limitations mayrequire that the collection box 35 be placed elsewhere with relation tothe channel 22 and suction motor 34.

It will of course be apparent to those skilled in the art that ifnecessary, other shapes of the openings 28, 30, and 32 differing fromthat depicted in the preferred embodiment of Figures 1 and 2, may beused. It is not intended to limit the invention by what is disclosed inthe preferred embodiment but rather by what is claimed in the followingclaims.

I claim:

1. In combination with a loom having a stop motion mechanism extendingthereacross and drop wires suspended thereover from strands of yarnbeing processed by said loom, an open channel fastened to said loomframe beneath said strands and substantially parallel to said .stopmotion mechanism, an air blowing device at one end of said channel, anair sucking device at the other end of said channel, air passage meansfor carrying air from said blowing device and for discharging said airat spaced intervals along said channel in a stream substantiallyparallel to the bottom of said channel toward said sucking device, andmeans at said other end for filtering the air reaching said other end.

2. In combination with a loom having a stop motion mechanism extendingthereacross and drop wires suspended over said mechanism from strands ofyarn being processed by said loom, a channel fastened to the frame ofsaid loom beneath said strands and extending substantially parallel tosaid mechanism across the width of said loom, an air blowing device atone end of said channel, an air suction device at the other end of saidchannel, means for discharging air from said blowing device along saidchannel from the said one end, means for carrying air from said blowingdevice to points at spaced intervals along said channel and fordischarging said air along said channel from said points, and means atsaid other end for filtering the air reaching said other end.

3. Incombination with a loom having a stop motion mechanism extendingthere across and drop wires suspended thereover from strands of yarnbeing processed by said loom an open channel facing upwardly fastened tosaid loom frame beneath said strands and substantially parallel to saidmechanism, an air blowing device at one end of said channel, an airsucking device at the other end of said channel, a plurality of coverplates covering said channel, said cover plates being in overlappingrelationship substantially parallel to the bottom of said channel andspaced from each other toward the bottorn of the channel from the saidone end to the said other end thereby forming spaced openings for air tobe discharged in a stream substantially parallel to the bottom of saidchannel toward said sucking device, and means at said other end of saidchannel for filtering the air reaching said other end.

4. In combination with a loom having a stop motion mechanism extendingthereacross and drop wires suspended thereover from strands of yarnbeing processed by said loom an open channel facing upwardly fastened tosaid loom frame beneath said strands and substantially parallel to saidmechanism, a centrifugal blower having its discharge opening connectedto one end of said channel, a plurality of cover plates covering saidchannel, said cover plates being in overlapping relationshipsubstantially parallel to the bottom of said channel and spaced fromeach other toward the bottom of the channel from the said one end to theother end thereby forming spaced openings for air to be discharged in astream substantially parallel to the bottom of said channel, acentrifugal blower having its intake opening connected to said other endof said channel, and means interposed between said last mentioned blowerand said other end for filtering air entering said last mentionedblower.

5. The method of removing lint and fly falling from the stop motionmechanism and adjacent areas of a loom, said method comprising producingat one side of the loom a first continuous substantially horizontalairstream and directing it toward the other side of the loomsubstantially parallel to and beneath said stop motion mechanism at asufficiently high velocity to provide an eductive force on the lint andfly on and near said stop motion mechanism, carrying said airstream theentire width of said loom beneath said stop motion mechanism so as toconvey the lint and fly received by said stream producing at anintermediate point of said first stream an additional continuoussubstantially horizontal air stream of a greater velocity than saidfirst stream at said intermediate point, directing said additionalstream toward the said other side of the loom, whereby air from saidfirst stream conveying the falling lint and fly is drawn into saidadditional stream and continues along therewith and intercepting saidairstream with its contained lint and fly at said other side of the loomand collecting said lint and fly.

6. The method of removing lint and fly falling from the stop motionmechanism and adjacent areas of a loom, said method comprising producingat one side of the loom, a first continuous substantially horizontalairstream and directing it toward the other side of the loomsubstantially parallel to and beneath said stop motion mechanism at asufficiently high velocity to provide an eductive force on the lint andfly and near said stop motion mechanism, carrying said airstream theentire width of said loom beneath said stop motion mechanism so as toconvey the lint and fly received by said stream, producing at spacedintermediate points along said first airstream additional continuoussubstantially horizontal airstreams each having a greater velocity thansaid first stream at each of said spaced intermediate points, directingsaid additional stream toward the said other side of the loom wherebyair from said first stream conveying the falling lint and fly combineswith each intermediate additional airstream to form one continuoussubstantially horizontal airstream, intercepting said airstream with itscontained lint and fiy at said other side of the loom and collectingsaid lint and fly.

7. The method of removing lint and fly falling from selected portions ofa loom having a stop motion mechanism, said method comprising producingat one side of the loom a first continuous substantially horizontalairstream and directing it beneath said portions toward the other sideof said loom substantially parallel to said mechanism at a sufficientlyhigh velocity to provide an eductive force on the lint and fly on andnear said portions, carrying said airstream the entire width of saidloom beneath said portions so as to convey the lint and fly received bysaid stream, producing at an intermediate point of said first stream anadditional continuous substantially horizontal airstream of a greatervelocity than said first stream at said intermediate point, directingsaid additional stream toward the said other side of the loom, wherebyair from said first stream conveying the falling lint and fly is drawninto said additional stream and continues along therewith, andintercepting said airstream with its contained lint and fly at saidother side of the loom and collecting said lint and fly.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,596,455 Rowe et al Aug. 17, 1926 1,703,852 Davis Feb. 26, 19281,842,416 Ludwig Jan. 26, 1932 1,844,635 Caller Feb. 9, 1932

